This year we made the most terrifying display we could think of; a stack of things so horrifying they made it to Monk's top ten list of things to fear. We hope you enjoy it as much as the squirrels did.




A tid bit about each to show the Monk-ish amount of detail we put into each phobia.
1) Germs; we made a companion piece for germs since it is Monk's number one fear and lets face it germs are everywhere.

This "plucky little microbe" is Ebola, because that is what Monk thought he had in stays in bed.
2) Needles; is a little gourd (small for a gourd big for a needle, it would be a two gauge) that we colored the stem sliver.
3) Snakes; we found this gourd when we heard someone shriek "it looks like a snake" at the pumpkin farm.
4) Milk; going with the milk carton theme of the white pumpkin we put the number on top to look like an expiration date.
5) Heights; as you can see is a very tall gourd and it's twisty to give the feeling of vertigo.
6) Crowds; there's lots of them and there all hodge-podge and horrible.
7) Death; is on a dark creepy gourd with and orange spot that reminded us of the yellow-green spot that shows up on the abdomen of a recently deceased individual. We figured a homicide detective would appreciate our reference to the first visible sign of decay.
8) Lighting; is a vivid and jagged gourd.
9) Elevators; this gourd is reminiscent of an elevator in a fancy hotel, we even made the number look like a button. We place elevators next to heights, because heights is one of the problems with elevators.
10) Mushrooms; this psychedelic gourd resembles the fungi that Monk fears.

As always we crave your feedback.

They are all fun and creativem but I really LMAO at the 'plucky little microbe'.

Being an expatriate for many years I am not up on how the holidays and the such are celebrated in the US but here in Japan which has introduced Halloween into its culturall vocabulary I see the phrase "Merry Halloween" (ala Merry Christmas) which I believe didn't exist in my youth so I wonder if it is a common expression now Stateside or simply another Japlish term?

KF

"Merry" is usually reserved for Merry Christmas. It's "happy" for Halloween.

Thank you. I guess the expression is just another example of Japlish (like "nighter" which is a creative rendering of night game.

KF

OMG! This is terrifying and horribly funny. What is this?? A rotten cucumber??? Or a mummy brocolli??? I'm sure I've never seen that...is it from outer space?

It's a gourd, a kind of squash. So are pumpkins for that matter. But there are all kinds of gourds used for everything from food, to lamps, bird houses, and even sitars. Particularly popular in the US as fall/Halloween decorations.

It's very interesting to hear that they say the Halloween greeting like that in Japan. I'm a second generation Japanese living in Canada and I wasn't aware that they have started to celebrate it more over there. For me, it sounds strange as if saying "Merry New Year". I wonder, if they are at all familiar with the "trick or treat" phrase. As for "Nighter", I've heard it used to refer to skiing at night too...



The gourd for the "Plucky Microbe" one is something I've never seen before either. I also thought it was a different green vegetable at first too. I never knew some gourds came like that. Very interesting.

Overall, a job well done on the display.

What a very cool idea. I might have to steal that for Halloween next year.

Konichiwa. As for the Japanese expression, I only saw a few times so it may not be that popular here yet and yes, Halloween displays and even dressing up in Halloween costumes are becoming more popular at least in the Tokyo/Yokohama areas which, however, is by no means a proper yardstick for measuring how extensive such fads are practiced outside such metropolitian areas.

KF